Heraclea

The animations are "broken" because they take too long. More than 3 seconds is too long to wait if you are a team's tanker.

Specifically, if you rely on click heals like Fire and Dark tankers do, the animations put them out of reach for far too long. Inv and Stone have slower recharging self heals that aren't as integral to their general survivability --- but when they need them, there must be an even greater emergency.

Of course, the animations make Taunt inaccessible while you watch the movie as well.

If the devs are going to rebalance attack sets by making animations slower, they need to move click powers to a separate queue outside of the attack queue, and make them instantly effective whenever clicked, regardless of what else is going on. Until that happens, Energy Melee is broken as a tanker secondary.

I am inclined to agree. I have experienced OG and CoF, and found them less than worthwhile. The only remaining issue is Weave versus a third tier auxiliary pool, and I'm probably going to omit Weave. Adding to the slight defense I get from my tanker stealth power that I avoid turning on if I can because of the fugly issue is probably not worth the drain of another costly toggle.

My "yeah, right" goal build for the character is probably going to look something like this:

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.401
http://www.cohplanner.com/

[u]Click this DataLink to open the build![u]

Ekphobippe - goal: Level 50 Magic Tanker
Primary Power Set: Dark Armor
Secondary Power Set: Ice Melee
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Arctic Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Dark Embrace -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/EndRdx(A), S'fstPrt-ResKB(5), TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx(27), TtmC'tng-ResDam(34), TtmC'tng-EndRdx/Rchg(40)
Level 1: Frozen Fists -- C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg(A), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(3), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(3), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx(15), P'ngTtl--Rchg%(39), ImpSwft-Dam%(40)
Level 2: Murky Cloud -- ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx(A), ImpArm-ResDam/Rchg(17), ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(37), ImpArm-ResDam(39)
Level 4: Ice Sword -- Mako-Acc/Dmg(A), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(5), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(7), TmpRdns-Acc/Slow(7), TmpRdns-Acc/EndRdx(15), P'ngTtl--Rchg%(43)
Level 6: Obsidian Shield -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/EndRdx(A), S'fstPrt-ResKB(17), TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx(39)
Level 8: Dark Regeneration -- Nictus-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Nictus-Acc/Heal(9), Nictus-Acc/EndRdx/Heal/HP/Regen(9), M'Strk-Acc/EndRdx(13), M'Strk-Dmg/Rchg(34), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(42)
Level 10: Air Superiority -- C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg(A), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(11), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(11), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(13)
Level 12: Taunt -- Mocking-Taunt/Rchg(A), Mocking-Taunt/Rchg/Rng(46)
Level 14: Fly -- Flight-I(A)
Level 16: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 18: Health -- Mrcl-Rcvry+(A), Mrcl-Heal(19), Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(19), Numna-Heal(40), Numna-Heal/EndRdx(42)
Level 20: Stamina -- P'Shift-End%(A), P'Shift-EndMod(21), P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg(21), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc(42)
Level 22: Death Shroud -- M'Strk-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(A), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx(23), M'Strk-Acc/EndRdx(23), M'Strk-Acc/Dmg(25), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(27)
Level 24: Ice Patch -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(25)
Level 26: Boxing -- Stpfy-Acc/Rchg(A), Stpfy-Acc/EndRdx(46)
Level 28: Freezing Touch -- G'Wdw-Acc/Rchg(A), G'Wdw-Acc/EndRdx(29), G'Wdw-Acc/Hold/Rchg(29), Mako-Acc/Dmg(31), Mako-Dmg/Rchg(31), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(43)
Level 30: Cloak of Darkness -- GftotA-Def/EndRdx(A), GftotA-EndRdx/Rchg(31)
Level 32: Tough -- ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx(A), ImpArm-EndRdx/Rchg(33), ImpArm-ResDam(33), ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(33), ResDam-I(34)
Level 35: Greater Ice Sword -- TmpRdns-Acc/Slow(A), TmpRdns-Acc/EndRdx(36), T'Death-Acc/Dmg(36), T'Death-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(36), T'Death-Dmg/Rchg(37), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(37)
Level 38: Build Up -- GSFC-Rchg/EndRdx(A), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg(45), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(45)
Level 41: Block of Ice -- Lock-Acc/Hold(A), Lock-Acc/Rchg(43)
Level 44: Shiver -- TmpRdns-Acc/Slow(A), TmpRdns-Acc/Dmg/Slow(45), TmpRdns-Acc/EndRdx(46)
Level 47: Ice Storm -- P'ngTtl-Acc/Slow(A), P'ngTtl-Acc/EndRdx(48), P'ngTtl-EndRdx/Rchg/Slow(48), P'ngTtl--Rchg%(48)
Level 49: Frozen Aura -- M'Strk-Acc/Dmg(A), M'Strk-Acc/EndRdx(50), M'Strk-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(50), M'Strk-Dmg/Rchg(50)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Gauntlet

To the extent that your primary relies on click powers for survivability, you want to avoid Energy Melee. The broken animations are likely to make them unavailable when needed. This means that Fire, Ice, and Dark primaries, which otherwise might find it attractive, should definitely avoid it. It has serious disadvantages for Stone, and Invulnerability for the same reason. Willpower and Shields don't need to worry as much.

Willpower's weak aura is not helped by stuns, and needs strong AoE to hold aggro. That makes it a poor pairing too.

What's left is basically Shields, and ... Shields. Shields gets an extra AoE attack in the primary, which helps. Shields does not rely on click powers for survivability. And Shields/EM has an easy and obvious build progression, having several postponable primary powers and skippable secondary powers makes an easy build. That's about the only primary that really has any sort of synergy with EM in its current incarnation.

When I finally get a Dark Armor tanker to 50, I will have a complete set: one of each primary. I have started them earlier and deleted them in frustration. I will admit, the power set has never impressed me much. It seemed to me to have all the aesthetic disadvantages of Stone and Ice Armor and the weaknesses of Fire Armor without any of those sets' advantages, and nothing much to show for those weaknesses either.

My Dark Armor / Ice Melee tanker is currently about to hit 41. I used the i15 freespec to drop Cloak of Fear and Oppressive Gloom, which I found underwhelming or dangerous, in favor of getting Tough into the build sooner than I had planned to. I have two Steadfast Protection anti-knockback IOs now, so that's taken care of. Getting into Tough in lieu of Cloak of Fear hasn't worsened the character's endurance use, and Tough seems to do far more than CoF did for her survivability.

I intended this tanker to be an almost pure team support tanker, not focusing on damage, but rather on team support through melee control, using Ice Patch and Freezing Touch liberally. This is my current power selection and order.

The question is: do I really need or want Cloak of Fear or Oppressive Gloom? As control powers, those powers simply failed to impress, when I had them. They were inaccurate, and ate my endurance or health with very little to show for them, and didn't appear to be helping to keep me alive anywhere near what Tough does.

Or should I focus on more melee control using an ancillary pool, like Arctic or Earth Mastery? This seems to be likelier to synergize with what I planned to do with the character. These are the powers she has now:

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.401
http://www.cohplanner.com/

[u]Click this DataLink to open the build![u]

Ekphobippe - now: Level 37 Magic Tanker
Primary Power Set: Dark Armor
Secondary Power Set: Ice Melee
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Fighting

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Dark Embrace -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Frozen Fists -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Murky Cloud -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Ice Sword -- Empty(A)
Level 6: Obsidian Shield -- Empty(A)
Level 8: Dark Regeneration -- Empty(A)
Level 10: Air Superiority -- Empty(A)
Level 12: Taunt -- Empty(A)
Level 14: Fly -- Empty(A)
Level 16: Swift -- Empty(A)
Level 18: Health -- Empty(A)
Level 20: Stamina -- Empty(A)
Level 22: Death Shroud -- Empty(A)
Level 24: Ice Patch -- Empty(A)
Level 26: Boxing -- Empty(A)
Level 28: Freezing Touch -- Empty(A)
Level 30: Cloak of Darkness -- Empty(A)
Level 32: Tough -- Empty(A)
Level 35: Greater Ice Sword -- Empty(A)
Level 38: Build Up -- Empty(A)
Level 41: [Empty]
Level 44: [Empty]
Level 47: [Empty]
Level 49: [Empty]
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Gauntlet

Random thoughts.
<ul type="square">[*]You really know how to compel somebody to read the description texts for every new custom mob encountered.[*]As to the crates in the first mission, you are aware that it is possible (without adding significant file size overhead) to have multiple mission objectives chained to a single objective display in the nav bar by using identical "plural" texts? (E.g. the bar says "4 hostages to save". Three ("hostage to save") are separate hostage events. One is a clickable coffin.) By this artifice, you can have different events for each without cluttering the nav bar with separate objectives of different kinds.[*]I did enjoy the mobs and their variety.[*]The chained objectives could have been set up a bit more clearly; perhaps prefigure them in the ambush texts for the prior goals?[/list]

As a /WP brute, at least solo and small teamed you should have no problem getting your Fury above 80% and keeping it there more or less indefinitely. (You did take Stamina, didn't you?)

The more sustainable your fury is, the less value the procs hold for you. The buzzsaw concept seems to work best with scrappers and tankers who don't have the long term damage boost you do.

Willpower.

QR + Stam = Fun

I like what SR can do on paper, really I do. But I had to get the Miracle +Recovery, the Numina +Recovery/Regeneration, and the Performance Shifter Chance for Endurance all together before I could start to actually enjoy playing the character.

Avoidance seems to be the key. I have tanked Reichman on a WP, Inv, and Shield tanker. The WP died once. The Inv was almost killed, but had a couple break frees and hit Dull Pain. The Shield tanker came off smelling like a rose.

I also tanked Reichman on a WP/spines scrapper (my usual tanking scrapper) and a Dark/SR scrapper, who doesn't even have any auras. The WP scrapper got killed once, again; the Dark scrapper once again came through without dying.

The Reichsman fight is like a mirror image of the Romulus fight. With Rommie, resistance &gt; defense. With Reichsman, defense &gt; resistance.

I wouldn't say that Invuln is "dangerous". In fact, it does not have the risk of sudden failure that Willpower has, due to temporarily being overwhelmed. There are only a handful of situations in the game (i.e. Clockwork King, Mother Mayhem) where I'd say that Willpower would be superior to Invulnerability for pure survivability.

Willpower has broad spectrum but relatively flimsy coverage, plus the ability to keep fighting after other tankers run out of gas. It is a mixed set of regen, resistance, and defense, with none of those being exceptional. WP's regen becomes stronger the more mobs are surrounding the tanker. There is no click self heal. WP benefits strongly from both Tough and Weave, which take some of the sting out of huge alpha strikes and allow the regen to kick in.

Invulnerability has exceptional resistance and some defense to physical (smashing / lethal) damage. It has defense to fire, energy, cold, and negative attacks, that becomes stronger when more enemies surround the tanker. It has very little native defense or resistance to psi or toxic attacks. There is a click self heal that also temporarily increases your max hit points. With Tough, Invulnerability can keep its resistance to physical damage capped or close to capped, all the time. Tough and Weave are more luxuries than necessities, but good to have.

The main advantage of Willpower is that it's more fun to level and play. With both QR and Stamina, endurance is basically covered, so you can easily afford to maintain the 6 toggles (7, if you like Combat Jumping or Hover) that a mature WP tanker ought to be running.

But Invuln is tougher, especially in only the primary and not considering the Fighting pool. It also holds aggro better. I would definitely plan on seeking recovery bonuses before attempting to hit the defense cap natively without helper mobs, which seems to me to be unnecessary. A mature Invuln tanker running the fighting pool will have 5 toggles on (6 with Combat Jumping or Hover) that are hard to sustain on Stamina alone, especially if you want your tanker to be more than just a tauntbot.

Compared to Willpower, Invulnerability has:

- An easier time handling difficult incoming alpha strikes, even without Tough or Weave, thanks to stronger general resistance and defence, and a strong click heal; and

- An easier time holding aggro, thanks to a taunting aura that lasts longer than the one Willpower gets.

I understand what that build is trying to achieve - get base defense into the 40something figures - but I tend to think that you're cutting corners on the essentials in order to get there. I suspect that a build like this would be a lot more fun to play, and not significantly more expensive:

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.401
http://www.cohplanner.com/

[u]Click this DataLink to open the build![u]

Level 50 Technology Tanker
Primary Power Set: Invulnerability
Secondary Power Set: War Mace
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Speed

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Temp Invulnerability -- ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx(A), ImpArm-ResDam(15), TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx(27), TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(29), TtmC'tng-ResDam(45)
Level 1: Bash -- C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg(A), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx(3), C'ngImp-Dmg/Rchg(3), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(15), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(43), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(48)
Level 2: Dull Pain -- Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(A), Dct'dW-Heal(5), H'zdH-Heal(7), H'zdH-Heal/Rchg(11), RgnTis-Regen+(13), RgnTis-Heal/Rchg(48)
Level 4: Jawbreaker -- C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg(A), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx(5), C'ngImp-Dmg/Rchg(7), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(9), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(11), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(43)
Level 6: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 8: Unyielding -- TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx(A), TtmC'tng-ResDam(9), TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(13), S'fstPrt-ResDam/EndRdx(25), S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(45)
Level 10: Combat Jumping -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 12: Taunt -- Mocking-Taunt/Rchg(A), Mocking-Taunt/Rchg/Rng(46)
Level 14: Super Jump -- Jump-I(A)
Level 16: Health -- Mrcl-Heal/EndRdx(A), Mrcl-Rcvry+(17), Numna-Heal/EndRdx(17), Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(34), Numna-Heal(50)
Level 18: Invincibility -- GftotA-Def/EndRdx(A), GftotA-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(19), GftotA-Def(19), GftotA-Def/Rchg(27), Mocking-Taunt(31), Mocking-Taunt/Rchg(46)
Level 20: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg(21), P'Shift-EndMod(21), P'Shift-End%(31)
Level 22: Clobber -- RzDz-Acc/Rchg(A), RzDz-Acc/EndRdx(23), RzDz-Acc/Stun/Rchg(23), Mako-Dmg/EndRdx(25), Mako-Dmg/Rchg(29), Mako-Acc/Dmg(31)
Level 24: Build Up -- AdjTgt-ToHit/Rchg(A), AdjTgt-EndRdx/Rchg(34), AdjTgt-Rchg(34), AdjTgt-ToHit/EndRdx/Rchg(50)
Level 26: Tough Hide -- GftotA-Def(A), GftotA-Def/EndRdx(37), GftotA-Run+(43)
Level 28: Resist Physical Damage -- ImpArm-ResDam(A), ImpArm-ResPsi(40)
Level 30: Kick -- F'dSmite-Acc/Dmg(A)
Level 32: Tough -- TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx(A), TtmC'tng-EndRdx/Rchg(33), TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(33), S'fstPrt-ResDam/EndRdx(33), ResDam-I(46)
Level 35: Shatter -- Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(36), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(36), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(36), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(37), Oblit-%Dam(37)
Level 38: Crowd Control -- Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(39), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(39), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(39), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(40), Oblit-%Dam(40)
Level 41: Weave -- GftotA-Def/EndRdx(A), GftotA-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(42), GftotA-EndRdx/Rchg(42), GftotA-Def(42)
Level 44: Resist Elements -- ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx(A), ImpArm-ResPsi(45)
Level 47: Resist Energies -- ImpArm-ResDam(A), ImpArm-ResPsi(48)
Level 49: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(50)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Gauntlet

[ QUOTE ]
I've noticed you have the tendency to sprinkle Latin every now and then into your posts. You speak it?
I've been trying to study it--rough language to learn.

[/ QUOTE ]

Three years of high school and four years of college Latin, and in law school I did research work for a professor involving medieval legal texts. I am fairly well at home in Latin, although the legal Latin probably ruined any chance I may have had at developing a Ciceronian style.

[ QUOTE ]
(Terrible grammar and punctuation, along with the abuse of netspeak and emoticons throughout the entire thing. Canon defilement is only the first of this arc's problems. The only way it could be made worse would be if it was in Hindu)

[/ QUOTE ]

LANGUAGE GEEK INTERLUDE

Hindu's the religion. Hindi is the language. Not counting the highfalutin' learned vocabulary, Hindi is the same as Urdu, an altogether cooler and more exotic name for what amounts to a mutually intelligible language. Verbum sapienti satis.

(Hindi and Urdu are the same language divided by religion. The common language, also called Hindustani, is spoken over a wide region of Pakistan and northern India. Urdu gets its learned and technical vocabulary from Arabic and Persian, being the Muslim version. Hindi gets its learned and technical vocabulary from Sanskrit; it's the Hindu version. When they all learn to hold hands and get together in brotherhood and harmony, they'll both get their learned and technical vocabulary from English. Or Esperanto, maybe.)

FWIW, for the next Travelling Tanker Tuesday, I rolled an Inv/Dark Melee tanker on Justice, the target server for the next event (July 21: 9pm EDT, at the IP gate of Kings Row).

As an experiment, I took RPD at level one, and intend to postpone TI until sometime later in the build. My initial thought was to leave it out until 22. Since I had no tanker on Justice to mess with, I chose to experiment. It's always been my advice to budding Willpower tankers to skip toggle defenses that don't do more than passively defend you (i.e. MoB and HS) until after Stamina is in place. And Invuln faces even worse endurance issues in trying to keep TI up without even Quick Recovery.

I am curious to learn if an Invuln tanker faces survival issues that are so terribly bad over the first 12 levels that would make the game unplayable to try to get through them with only RPD up. Upon looking at the hard choices in slotting order that an Inv/DM faces, I will probably end up taking the power at 12, but not running it regularly or slotting it up until post 22.

WP/DA would be my recommendation.

Yes, WP gets Quick Recovery at 12. Plan on taking Stamina at 20 anyways. You will want it in place before Tough and Weave, at minimum; and it's easy to arrange your power selections to make it possible, since the purely defensive toggles (Mind over Body and Heightened Senses) just do not repay the cost of running them before SO levels anyways.

Bosses? They're quite susceptible to Touch of Fear. Just needs to be applied twice instead of once. The recharge makes this easily possible. Slot it with one of the fear or to hit debuff sets that match your priorities. I like Siphon Insight.

Lots of to hit debuff means not worrying about defense caps.

I have never re-rolled a level 50. A level 50, by my estimation, represents enough investment of time and effort to be worth saving somehow, even if you have to shell out for a server transfer or purchasing extra slots.

That's what I did with my Fire/EM tanker, after she lost first her primary, then her secondary: moved her to Champion, where she can now participate in Tanker Tuesdays, and at least gets played once a month.

I would add:

Eagor to Please - 169260

by @Gno Man as a personal favorite arc.

I have re-released two of my older arcs now that more slots are available to me. These were the best of the ones I had made so far, and I tweaked them slightly, adding in edited versions of in-game standard critters, among other things.

They are:

Who is Kidnapping the World's Great Philosophers
Arc No. 253920

Alignment: Neutral
Recommended level: Any (1-50)

The greatest minds of the past have gone missing! You must retrieve them, and in the process you may learn something about the Golden Rule, and where it ought to apply but too often isn't. This is a moral allegory in Mission Architect form.

Comment: This was the second most popular of my older stories, after Monstrous Regiment of Lesbian Hellions. It was two months old, though, and as such had to yield to make room for a new one. Now I can republish it and take advantage of the i15 improvements, including the ability to rename and recolor standard mobs. This is probably my most "serious" story, which isn't saying much.


Lawyers of Ghastly Horror
Arc No. 253952

Alignment: Heroic

Level: 35-50

You thought the Banished Pantheon was bad before? Now they've got lawyers.

Comments: This is probably my most intricate story-telling in the medium. It never was popular, largely because of the misleading "Very Long" length. It is a five mission story. But the number of goals in each is small, they are clearly defined, and the missions are easily stealthed if that's how you like to run them.

The Lawyer faction has been retooled a little from when this was live, and the difficulty dialed back a bit - this was the best arc I made on Test during the i14 beta, and the last to be brought over to live. Recolored custom mobs have also been added, to dial back the difficulty slightly.

Moreover, his study lacks a crucial element: a control. As far as I can tell, his study did not include a character who applied himself equally to PvP play, but who made no conspicuous effort to violate the community's norms. Without that, he ain't learning anything.

Regular PvP is too much full of trash talk and juvie attitudes to be particularly attractive to me anyways; then again, my experience here is mostly confined to the arena, or PvP in other games, and I tend not to seek it out diligently. But more importantly, without knowing how much grief and badmouthing you can generate by participating vigorously in regular PvP, discovering that you can generate a lot by participating in PvP griefing is a factoid devoid of meaning. There's no yardstick for comparison. I'd give this research project an F.

[ QUOTE ]
You must be from Cincinnati... because what you are describing sounds exactly like the Cincinnati style chili we used to make at World Class in Seattle.

[/ QUOTE ]

Technically, in Indiana, downriver from Cincinnati, and closer to Louisville, actually - but yes, Cincinnati is the origin of the style. If I remember right, it was some Greek guy who invented it, and that's why the seasoning is so unusual.

I always have the cheese and onions but usually skip the beans.

[ QUOTE ]
Regen is just fine, #1 out of the box for the soloing scrapper, and played sensibly is not over shadowed on teams.

[/ QUOTE ]

Regen is not bad. It allows under-20 content to actually be enjoyed on its own terms, rather than trying to rush past it to get to 22 when the real game opens up. Once the real game opens up, its reliance on click heals makes it nervous to play and uniquely suffering from animation issues and lag. Hasten is a must.

Compare Willpower. You still have to struggle to get to 20, and I'd recommend postponing non-essential toggles until 24 and 30, myself. Once you get all that stuff in place, the set becomes almost worry free and a lot more relaxing to play.

It seems to me that Regen (and other sets that depend on click powers, like Fire Armor) are due for a buff, if only to get rid of animation and lag issues.

[ QUOTE ]
(Side note: The more combinations I try with Dark Armor, the more I'm convinced it was optimized to pair with Dark melee, with Siphon Life being the primary heal and Dark Regen the panic button, and Dark Consumption to keep the blue-bar full, and Soul Drain to buff acc and dam of the inaccurate auras.)

[/ QUOTE ]

Historically, you are quite right. In the beginning, there were four primaries:

Invuln
Fire
Ice
Stone

and five non-weapon and two weapon secondaries:

Super Strength
Fire
Ice
Stone
Energy Melee

Battle Axe and War Mace.

The assumption appears to be that concept would win out over a desire for variety, so that Fire primary tankers would mostly all have Fire secondaries, same with Ice/Ice and Stone/Stone. Invulnerability / Super Strength can probably also be regarded as a matched pair also. Dark Melee went with Dark Armor, as a scrapper set, before both were ported over to tankers.

Shield Defense seems to have been created to make a natural pairing with the weapon sets.

Energy Melee doesn't really go with anything. Especially now. If another primary is added for tankers, please let it not be Energy Aura.

I do want Spines as a tanker secondary - Stones/Spines would probably look weird enough to keep me entertained, and nobody would be rolling one to looik at anyways - and Regen as a brute secondary.

"Sciroc" stands for "Scirocco's Dervish", an invention set, fairly pricey. I use them, but wouldn't slot more than 4 on a willpower scrapper - 5 gets you a fairly substantial AoE defense bonus, but that's only going to be active for you on untyped AoE damage.

And I wouldn't put it in Quills, either. I took an odd approach, slotting 5 dirt cheap Tempered Readiness in it for small but worthwhile bonuses, and capping it off with a Pacing of the Turtle - Chance for Recharge Slow. I have another Turtle Chance for Recharge Slow in Caltrops, and a Dark Watcher's Despair Chance for Recharge Slow in Rise to the Challenge to boot. Those three procs work wonders together in big crowds of mobs.

The Spines/WP scrapper rapidly became a favorite character. My build is about half finished now. This is where I am planning to take it:

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.401
http://www.cohplanner.com/

[u]Click this DataLink to open the build![u]

Betsy Ross (goal): Level 50 Mutation Scrapper
Primary Power Set: Spines
Secondary Power Set: Willpower
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Weapon Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Lunge <ul type="square">[*] (A) Crushing Impact - Damage/Endurance/Recharge[*] (3) Crushing Impact - Damage/Endurance[*] (3) Crushing Impact - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance[*] (11) Crushing Impact - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge[*] (37) Crushing Impact - Accuracy/Damage[*] (46) Hecatomb - Chance of Damage(Negative)[/list]Level 1: High Pain Tolerance <ul type="square">[*] (A) Numina's Convalescence - Heal[*] (5) Numina's Convalescence - Heal/Recharge[*] (7) Numina's Convalescence - Heal/Endurance/Recharge[*] (43) Titanium Coating - Resistance[*] (43) Titanium Coating - Resistance/Recharge[*] (50) Titanium Coating - Resistance/Endurance[/list]Level 2: Spine Burst <ul type="square">[*] (A) Scirocco's Dervish - Accuracy/Damage[*] (5) Scirocco's Dervish - Accuracy/Recharge[*] (7) Scirocco's Dervish - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance[*] (15) Scirocco's Dervish - Damage/Recharge[*] (40) Eradication - Damage/Recharge[*] (50) Eradication - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge[/list]Level 4: Fast Healing <ul type="square">[*] (A) Numina's Convalescence - Heal[*] (9) Numina's Convalescence - Heal/Endurance[*] (9) Numina's Convalescence - Heal/Recharge[/list]Level 6: Air Superiority <ul type="square">[*] (A) Mako's Bite - Accuracy/Damage[*] (11) Mako's Bite - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge[*] (46) Mako's Bite - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge[/list]Level 8: Impale <ul type="square">[*] (A) Devastation - Accuracy/Damage[*] (13) Devastation - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge[*] (13) Devastation - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge[*] (40) Devastation - Damage/Recharge[*] (40) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage[*] (46) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance[/list]Level 10: Indomitable Will <ul type="square">[*] (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance[*] (15) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed[/list]Level 12: Swift <ul type="square">[*] (A) Run Speed IO[/list]Level 14: Fly <ul type="square">[*] (A) Flight Speed IO[/list]Level 16: Rise to the Challenge <ul type="square">[*] (A) Numina's Convalescence - Heal/Endurance[*] (17) Numina's Convalescence - Heal[*] (17) Numina's Convalescence - Heal/Recharge[*] (42) Dark Watcher's Despair - Recharge/Endurance[*] (43) Dark Watcher's Despair - Chance for Recharge Slow[*] (50) Taunt Duration IO[/list]Level 18: Health <ul type="square">[*] (A) Regenerative Tissue - Heal/Endurance[*] (19) Regenerative Tissue - Heal/Recharge[*] (19) Regenerative Tissue - +Regeneration[/list]Level 20: Quick Recovery <ul type="square">[*] (A) Performance Shifter - EndMod[*] (21) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Accuracy[*] (21) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Recharge[/list]Level 22: Stamina <ul type="square">[*] (A) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod[*] (23) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Recharge[*] (23) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Accuracy[/list]Level 24: Mind Over Body <ul type="square">[*] (A) Titanium Coating - Resistance/Endurance[*] (25) Titanium Coating - Resistance/Endurance/Recharge[*] (25) Titanium Coating - Resistance[*] (42) Aegis - Resistance/Endurance[/list]Level 26: Ripper <ul type="square">[*] (A) Obliteration - Damage[*] (27) Obliteration - Accuracy/Recharge[*] (27) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge[*] (31) Obliteration - Damage/Recharge[*] (31) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge[*] (37) Multi Strike - Accuracy/Endurance[/list]Level 28: Quills <ul type="square">[*] (A) Tempered Readiness - Accuracy/Slow[*] (29) Tempered Readiness - Accuracy/Endurance[*] (29) Tempered Readiness - Damage/Slow[*] (37) Tempered Readiness - Endurance/Recharge/Slow[*] (39) Tempered Readiness - Accuracy/Damage/Slow[*] (39) Pacing of the Turtle - Chance of -Recharge[/list]Level 30: Heightened Senses <ul type="square">[*] (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance[*] (31) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance/Recharge[*] (34) Luck of the Gambler - Defense[*] (39) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed[/list]Level 32: Throw Spines <ul type="square">[*] (A) Air Burst - Accuracy/Damage[*] (33) Air Burst - Damage/Endurance[*] (33) Air Burst - Damage/Recharge[*] (33) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage[*] (34) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance[*] (34) Positron's Blast - Damage/Recharge[/list]Level 35: Build Up <ul type="square">[*] (A) Adjusted Targeting - Recharge[*] (36) Adjusted Targeting - To Hit Buff/Recharge[*] (36) Adjusted Targeting - Endurance/Recharge[*] (36) Adjusted Targeting - To Hit Buff/Endurance/Recharge[/list]Level 38: Strength of Will <ul type="square">[*] (A) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3%[/list]Level 41: Boxing <ul type="square">[*] (A) Stupefy - Accuracy/Recharge[*] (42) Stupefy - Accuracy/Endurance[/list]Level 44: Tough <ul type="square">[*] (A) Titanium Coating - Resistance/Endurance[*] (45) Titanium Coating - Endurance/Recharge[*] (45) Impervium Armor - Resistance/Endurance[*] (45) Impervium Armor - Resistance[/list]Level 47: Weave <ul type="square">[*] (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance[*] (48) Luck of the Gambler - Endurance/Recharge[*] (48) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance/Recharge[*] (48) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed[/list]Level 49: Caltrops <ul type="square">[*] (A) Recharge Reduction IO[/list]------------
Level 1: Brawl <ul type="square">[*] (A) Empty[/list]Level 1: Sprint <ul type="square">[*] (A) Empty[/list]Level 2: Rest <ul type="square">[*] (A) Empty[/list]Level 1: Critical Hit

Most Willpower tankers don't need that. But Willpower/Stone? Might be worth slotting. Although other characters would have priority, to be sure. Might ask a friend to help you transfer the enhancement, if you can't do that through a supergroup.

[ QUOTE ]
No offense here, but you are very much sounding like the player you described being in your first post. Someone who leveled a stone tanker to 50, obviously didn't like it very much, and then never touched it again.

[/ QUOTE ]

I rolled a stone tanker in i5, played that to 50 fairly quickly at i6, then quit playing regularly for a while shortly after i7 hit, and came back around i9. When the character was made, Stone's liabilities seemed worth it. Now, they seem far less so.

My main issue with stone is the aesthetic annoyance, especially of Granite. If power customization lets us get rid of the Boulder look, I might be a lot more interested in my stone tanker than I am now. Until that day comes, it's going to rank below Ice, Dark, and Fire in the level of interest I can muster in a character that uses it.

My characters on my main server form a collective; we give each other the most useful drops and recipes. But the stone tanker is still mostly running on SOs. I have not tried to IO out that tanker, mostly because of lack of interest. I realize that it's possible to fix multiple issues, including -recharge, -speed, and the endurance problem, with IO sets. But more interesting characters have issues to deal with too.